In Green Colours: Cut Copy on their Celtics pride, watching NBA playoff games in casinos, and hailing the Truth, Paul Pierce

After Paul Pierce exploded for 36 points Tuesday night in Atlanta, tying up the Boston Celtics’ Best of 7 series with the Hawks at one-game apiece, the Twitterverse exploded in Green. On the music front, the usual suspects showed their Celtics pride -- from Sammy Adams to Brian Fair of Shadows Fall to Slaine -- all hailing the Truth for rising to the occasion while Rajon Rondo was out nursing a sore suspension.

But there were also a few tweets coming from perhaps Australia’s biggest Celtics fans, CUT COPY, including this gem a few minutes after Pierce’s victorious kneel at Philips Arena’s center court: “Dedicating today’s song in the studio to Paul Pierce’s game two masterclass.”

Masterclass, indeed. Clearly, rooting for Aussie's like Andrew Bogut has its limits, but how did one of the world’s biggest electronic acts become such die-hard Celtics fans? The band has said in past interviews that they all bonded over a common love for Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and C' basketball, but looking at their recent twitter feed – nearly all C’s, all week – it’s clear this is more than a passing interest.

Earlier today I connected with Cut Copy guitarist TIM HOEY to get the truth behind their Green alliance, knowing full well the band will be glued to the screen -- 9:30 am Saturday, Australia time -- when Game 3 rolls around this evening at the Garden.

Turns out the band has a history of watching Celtics games before breakfast at a local casino, occasionally pushed back showtimes on the road to finish watching playoff games, and might win four pounds of coffee if the Green knock off the Hawks...

Boston Phoenix: How did an Australian electronic pop band become Celtics fans?
Hoey: When we were touring In Ghost Colours was around the time the Ray Allen and KG moved to the Celtics. I’ve always been a huge Ray Allen fan. The purest shooter of all time and the guy has work ethic! We were watching a lot of basketball on the bus and in the band room before shows. We’d never miss a Celtics game. I remember pushing back shows until the game was finished. We finished touring that record around the beginning of the 2008 Finals against the Lakers.

There’s a 14-hour time difference between Boston and Melbourne, Australia...
Watching basketball in Australia is tough if you don't have cable, and none of us do, so we’d go down to the local casino at 9 am to watch the Finals. We’d be watching games surrounded by gamblers and guys who had their first drink of beer at 8:30 in the morning. It was quite a scene.

What else drew you to Celtics fandom?
The Celtics rivalries are some of the best in sporting history. I love the tradition and passion of their brand of basketball. Mitchell’s family [drummer Mitchell Scott] has always been a Celtics family. So that was passed down. Like I said, I followed Ray Allen’s career and his move to the club to form the new era of the Big 3 sealed it for me. The emergence of Rondo in the last few years has been a beautiful thing to watch, and I can’t forget about Doc Rivers. Like what Brian Epstein was to the Beatles, Doc Rivers is to the Boston Celtics.

And how awesome is Paul Pierce? Seriously. Guy is unbelievable!
What he did in Game 2 in Atlanta, he’s been doing his whole career. You can’t discredit KG’s defensive game, and the way the bench stepped up in the absence of their starting back court. But everyone knew going into that game Pierce was going to have to bring it home. When he hit that dagger three in the 4th I literally jumped up and smashed a glass on the ground.

Rooting for the C’s has spilled over into studio time...
We’re currently locked in battle with Ben Allen, who mixed our last record and who is a big Hawks fan. We have a pound of coffee bet per game this series. But this is bigger than Cut Copy and coffee at the moment. Like what Pierce said before game one, "We're not here to talk about history, we're here to keep making it" Let's do this!